Health

After weeks of fevered speculation, Catherine, Princess of Wales, revealed on Mar. 22 that she was absent from the public eye not because she was having marital problems or growing out a bad haircut, but because she was being treated for cancer. She and her husband had, she said, "taken time to explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in a way that is appropriate for them, and to reassure them that I am going to be OK." Even before her announcement, however, many cancer survivors who were also parents had already guessed at the truth. The silence and delay tactics looked familiar, because they had done the same thing when they got their own diagnosis. "When you hear cancer, you just think, 'Oh, my goodness, I'm going to die,'" says Shambi Broome of Columbia, S.C., who was diagnos...

Every day, itchy dogs shuffle into Elizabeth Falk’s veterinary office. Some can’t stop chewing their feet or scratching their bellies. Others have red, smelly ears, or rashes on their skin. All are intensely uncomfortable because of environmental allergies. “They’re sitting in the waiting room, and everyone else is backing away out of fear that it’s contagious,” she says. “It’s super busy helping as many as we can.” Until recently, Falk was a veterinary dermatologist at Cornell University Veterinary Specialists, where she saw about 15 allergic pets a day and was booked up to six months out. Demand is so high that in April, she’ll open her own pet dermatology practice. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] More and more dogs are suffering from atopic dermatitis, otherwise known as environmen...

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is the most common form of genetic heart disease worldwide. Researchers have estimated that up to 1 in 200 people have the condition, which is characterized by an abnormal thickening of the walls of the heart. This thickening can make it difficult for the heart to pump blood. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy can be a deadly disease, and there was a time when it was largely untreatable. But the last 20 years have witnessed a sea change in the condition’s management—a change that has led to an estimated 10-fold decrease in deaths.“Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy has this reputation that it’s difficult to live with, and that the outlook is grim,” says Dr. Barry Maron, a cardiologist and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy specialist at Beth Israel Lahey Health in Burlington, Mass. ...

If you've ever gone down the rabbit hole of health and wellness trends online, you've likely stumbled upon the so-called shadowy side of nightshades—vegetables that include tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, and peppers. What’s made them suddenly newsworthy is that they’ve been singled out by self-proclaimed wellness experts and celebrity dieters as culprits behind a range of health issues, from arthritis to autoimmune disease flare-ups and indigestion.While there’s little scientific evidence for these claims, some people report feeling better after cutting nightshades from their diets. So before you start side-eyeing your salad, eggplant parmesan, and baked potato, it’s worth taking a closer look.Why have nightshades become so controversial (and where did that shady name come from, anyway)? S...

Just this month, two young, high-profile public figures announced that they have cancer. First, Olivia Munn, 43, disclosed that she was treated for breast cancer after catching it early. Days later, Kate Middleton, 42, announced she has been receiving treatment for an unspecified form of cancer. Their diagnoses spotlight a troubling trend: both in the U.S. and around the world, cancer diagnoses are growing more common among adults younger than 50. By 2030, one recent study estimated, the number of these early-onset cancer diagnoses could increase by roughly 30% worldwide—and the number of people who die from their conditions could rise by about 20%.“The most striking finding in the last decade has been this rise in incidence rates among young adults,” says Ahmedin Jemal, senior vice presid...

March 25, 2024 9:45 PM EDTPuerto Rico declared a public health emergency over dengue, a mosquito-borne illness that has surged throughout the Americas this year.Read More: Dengue Fever Is Soaring Worldwide. Here’s What to Know—and How to Stay ProtectedHealth officials in Puerto Rico have identified 549 cases of dengue across the U.S. territory of 3.2 million people, with almost half the cases concentrated in the capital of San Juan. Also known as “breakbone fever,” dengue can cause headaches, soreness, fever and rashes—and, in extreme cases, death. “This year, cases of dengue have surpassed historical records,” Health Secretary Carlos Mellado said in a statement. The emergency declaration has no immediate impact on travel to or from Puerto Rico, a popular holiday destination, but it will m...

In the 1800s, a French Canadian named Alexis St. Martin was shot in the stomach while at a fur trading post, when someone’s musket accidentally fired at close range. He survived, but his injuries resulted in a hole in his stomach wall. This provided an early window—literally—into how our emotions and mental health affect the gut. Through careful experiments, the surgeon William Beaumont discovered that St. Martin’s mental state had direct physiological consequences on his stomach’s activity: when he felt irritable, for example, his digestion slowed. Somehow, his emotional states were manifest in the specific, local biology of his gut.Most people have experienced the gut consequences of their emotional feelings. Nerves before an exam might lead you to feel nauseous or even vomit. Profound s...

Maybe you heard somewhere that pickles are a "superfood," and dutifully added them to your shopping list. Unfortunately, you may reach for the wrong jar, because many pickles at supermarkets aren’t especially good for you.Scientists have made progress in separating fact from fiction when it comes to health claims about pickles: both the cucumber kind, and other types of pickled vegetables. We asked experts how to find the healthiest kinds of pickles, which benefits are backed by research, and the right amount to eat every day.Pick the best pickleMost of what you find at the grocery store—in both the refrigerated and room-temperature sections—are “quick pickles,” meaning the cucumbers (or other pickled vegetables) are acidified in a vinegar-based broth for no more than a few days. Some of t...

The first reported person in the world has received a genetically modified pig kidney. A transplant surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital successfully performed the groundbreaking, four-hour procedure on Richard Slayman, a 62-year-old manager at the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, on March 16. His doctors report he is doing well and expect him to leave the hospital soon.The surgery was the culmination of years of work transplanting kidneys from a specially bred group of pigs—which had been genetically modified to more closely resemble those of humans—into primates. Encouraged by those results, the team at Mass General Brigham—the health system to which the hospital belongs—was confident it was time to test the pig organs in the first patient.Slayman had received a human kid...

There are more than 400,000 species of plants on Earth and at least half are suitable for human consumption—yet you’ll only find a small portion at the grocery store. That’s part of the reason why Sam Thayer loves foraging. He started collecting wild food from the woods when he was a kid, and he still has cravings for delicacies he can’t buy. “Last year I gathered about 30 gallons of serviceberries”—blueberry-like fruits that grow on trees and shrubs—“and I make fruit leather and eat it as a snack year-round,” says Thayer, a naturalist who lives in Northwest Wisconsin and has authored an array of field guides. “I have about 8 pounds of Wapato, which is a tuber, in my pantry, and I grind it up into hot cereal for breakfast. I love it, and you can’t buy it.” [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true...